Should I have waited?

[jlt646]

Got into my dream program (whoohoo!) with a GA and a livable stipend. I accepted the offer earlier in April, and now I'm worried that I should have waited until tomorrow. My field is not lucrative, and I'm going to a public university, so there's not a ton of extra money just hanging around...but if I'd waited, would they have offered more? That's what I'm seeing around the forums, and I feel like maybe I made a mistake. Is there evidence that that is a real trend, or was I right to just go for it? 

Of course it's too late now, so I'm really just asking because I'm curious. Thanks!

[eternallyephemeral]

Stipends do not really fluctuate, and the minimum funding offered is often the same for all students. So waiting does not mean they will change their funding offer.

It's not really like negotiation, though a lot of people take this approach to graduate school admissions.

So no, there's no difference at all, there's no real trend, and getting into a dream program with money to live on is typically the most ideal situation you can have.

[jlt646]

2 hours ago, eternallyephemeral said:

Stipends do not really fluctuate, and the minimum funding offered is often the same for all students. So waiting does not mean they will change their funding offer.

It's not really like negotiation, though a lot of people take this approach to graduate school admissions.

So no, there's no difference at all, there's no real trend, and getting into a dream program with money to live on is typically the most ideal situation you can have.

Thanks for this! I feel okay about my situation, and I didn't think I needed to negotiate/feel sad about making the decision so fast...but it's good to hear the same from an objective third party. 

[eternallyephemeral]

19 hours ago, jlt646 said:

Thanks for this! I feel okay about my situation, and I didn't think I needed to negotiate/feel sad about making the decision so fast...but it's good to hear the same from an objective third party. 

No problem! It helps to hear from other people and get some validation, I understand.

[GradSchoolTruther]

On April 14, 2016 at 8:02 AM, jlt646 said:

Got into my dream program (whoohoo!) with a GA and a livable stipend. I accepted the offer earlier in April, and now I'm worried that I should have waited until tomorrow. My field is not lucrative, and I'm going to a public university, so there's not a ton of extra money just hanging around...but if I'd waited, would they have offered more? That's what I'm seeing around the forums, and I feel like maybe I made a mistake. Is there evidence that that is a real trend, or was I right to just go for it? 

Of course it's too late now, so I'm really just asking because I'm curious. Thanks!

What type of offer did you think you could get by waiting? I doubt they could have offered more money from stipends. What could happen is that professors may have research funds that can be used to pay you for a summer project. Happened to me for a couple of years.